THE WELCOME SHADE of WOODLAND HILLS

Walking backwards thumb up, pumping north fog moving in. Years later, purple sand delights small hands, the family together and young.

Walking about these neighborhoods I am comforted by the sight of the Coastal Redwoods, random and rare, planted with care by who?

Familiar friends out of place in these hot, dry hills. Here a lone tree anchors the landscape. Down the road a forest of three or four shade the foggy memory of vacations many years gone.

A gift shop at Big Basin, the oldest State Park in California, or maybe Pfeiffer State Park in majestic Big Sur, trees in a plastic tube might thrive, and revive that part of the mind that reminds us of a time.

A nod to Stanford or California’s Northern Coast. Who planted these trees? What prompted their decision to undertake desert revision?